Living with a parent vs spending the money for an apartment

[PorcupineDoc]

Hey guys. Kind of struggling on this decision.

If I live with a parent my commute to school as a first year med student will be about 35 minutes - 45 with heavy traffic. If I live in an apartment it will be 900-1000 dollars rent and I've already struggled finding one that will qualify me with my loans.

Do y'all feel as a first year, the money savings is worth it, or do you really think its worth paying the money to be within 10 minutes of school and live on your own?

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[EmilKraepelin55]

I would stay home if you are single. If rent is 1000 and you make the assumption that you will stay there all 4 years then that’s 48k without interest saved plus more with interest applied. That’s money you can use for traveling and living expenses for away rotations, traveling for interviews etc. in 4th year and board exams and more. However, the likelihood that you will stay in the same place is contingent on how your school approaches years 3-4. You may have to move either way in the end. But that’s still 2 years rent free at least. The commute you would have if you live with parents is doable, and if your school doesn’t have mandatory lectures then once you get used to the grind you will likely desire to stay home anyway and just come in for guest lectures and labs etc thereby cutting down your total commute time.

Either way, this is a personal decision. Can you stand being with parents for another few years? If you can, then I would live with them just based on the financial considerations of the matter. Depending on the school, you will likely have well over 200K in loans anyways. It’s wise to cut down where you can if you can help it.

 

[EmilKraepelin55]

A good question too is: would living at home get in the way of my studies? Because that will be your entire life. If your family expects too much of you when you live at home and gripe about how long you study and how little time you contribute to them then I wouldn’t live at home.

 

[jurassicpark]

The commute is 35-45 minutes each way I'm assuming? You may have to consider that you can get stuck in traffic, stay late for labs/practicals/research/beer pong.

I think it's almost similar to those asking the same question when they were in college. Can you live with your parents for another X amount of years? As EmilKraepelin brought up, what is the family expectation of you if you stay at home? Your studying and your own rhythm will be important. Also, there's the boyfriends/girlfriends issues.. that alone is worth an apartment IMO.

 

[TwistedTea]

what if you really want to practice omm w your new gf or bf but parents are home?

 

[Alkaidius]

Decision was simple for me: none of my friends and family understood the hours I needed for studying. Something you’ll realize eventually. I personally, couldn’t afford to stay home. You could always try staying home first year and find a place 2nd year (you’ll probably need it for board prep).

@Agahnim our dean had a name for that “OMM at night” lol

 

[JSReed]

Also living at home could help you cut down on some of the other "admin" aspects of life--cooking, paying bills, getting stuff fixed, etc etc. Just something to think about.

 

[tri99]

I've been going back and forth with a similar situation, my parents live 40 minutes away from campus and are extremely supportive. But I've decided to live in an apartment 3~5 minutes from campus. I'm not thrilled about the idea of an additional 40k in loans, but it's not a drastic increase compared to what I will be borrowing for tuition regardless. At the end of the day the day my education is an investment and I'd rather pay the extra cost of living to ensure I give myself every possibility to be successful.

 

[cookiegrub]

Hey guys. Kind of struggling on this decision.

If I live with a parent my commute to school as a first year med student will be about 35 minutes - 45 with heavy traffic. If I live in an apartment it will be 900-1000 dollars rent and I've already struggled finding one that will qualify me with my loans.

Do y'all feel as a first year, the money savings is worth it, or do you really think its worth paying the money to be within 10 minutes of school and live on your own?

unless you absolutely have to stay home because your parent lost their job (like mine did during this time) and needs your financial support, I would shell out the loan money to live alone so that you can focus and keep up with your studies. Never underestimate medical school and its demands, there were definitely some days when I didn't want to see anyone just so I could stay afloat...this is coming from someone who did well at a reputed undergrad. The ability to work with students on a moments notice wouldn't have been easy for me had I not literally had classmates living in close proximity.

 

[ciestar]

Depends on your family. Will they be hands off and legit not bother you if you’re home? My parents would not. (This is why i stayed with my aunt during an away rotation).

If your family can be respectful of the time you need to study and can even help out with meals and stuff (which is soo nice). It is an option but a commute like that sucks.

 

[hungrydoc710]

My parents are covering cost of living for the entirety of med school - so this may be easier to say in my shoes - but I would 110% take out extra loans if I were in someone else's shoes to have my own space.

 

[PorcupineDoc]

The drive is whatever to me. My family is not very wealthy so if I don't live at home I get 0 help in way of finances.

I got rejected from two apartments already because my parents couldn't sign as guarantors because they didn't make 5x the salary of the monthly payment. So I guess I could keep looking for one that will accept me on loans alone.

And another point to make is tuition at my school is only 13k. So the savings is actually a very high percentage of total loan. I'm not sure what to do. I might try to commute for a month or two and test the waters. And if I hate it I'll try to find a place in the fall when prices may be lower.

Good plan??

 

[Tgfu34]

I had a classmate try to commute with a 45 minute drive one way during their first semester. Eventually caved ~2 months in because they were essentially losing 1.5 hours of study time a day, which adds up over time (especially with mandatory classes). Extra early mornings, extra late nights plus even less down time just because of a drive. Just something to consider.

Like the above posters said, if your family can understand the time commitment that medical school is and the commute doesn’t bother you then it sounds like a valid option.

 

[user1341]

Are you an incoming student? I'm all about saving dollars, but in this case, I think the apartment is definitely worth it. You're going to have plenty on your plate from school alone. You might be setting your yourself up to fail by adding commitments you don't know you're going to be able to handle (commute time, commute stress, distractions at home, not being able to go out with new friends as easily, etc.). Rent for the first year or at least semester while you figure things out. After that, feel free to save the money if you can handle it. If you're having trouble securing an apartment, you can try renting a room from local houses.

 

[DennisReynolds]

Stayed home during 4th year and it was amazing. Had home-cooked food, laundry was always done, bed was always made, no major stress. Could come and go as I pleased.

Saved ~$13,000 in rent by doing so for the entire year. But ~$4-$5,000 was spent on travel for interviews for residency (airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, gas, food, etc.)

 

[Medical_studies]

I just can't see a situation where living alone would be worth $20,000, that's a ridiculous amount of money. This seems like a no brainer to me. Also, you might cherish this time when you never get to see them because you're too busy with school/work/family of your own. Less guilt later, you will kill two birds with one stone.

 

[SurgDoc95]

You're an adult and nobody 22+ should be living with their parents IMO. Spend the money and get an apartment. The pros of saving money don't outweigh the benefits of being independent. I love my parents, but after spending the last 9+ weeks with them for quarantine I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE OUT. Not having to do my laundry has been a perk tho

 

[PorcupineDoc]

All good points. I am an incoming student. So yeah it makes for some initial hardships and Driving pains. But I’ve lived alone 4 hours away for the last 5 years.
And another huge factor, I’d be paying 15-20k for rent and utilities for an apartment even though my school has already declared most classes will be online this semester besides anatomy, OMM, and guest lecturers.
So I might be in class much less than a normal non pandemic first year.

 

[Pstar9]

I'm in a similar situation. Commuting would save me thousands however, I'm still getting my own place. My logic was that I like to be in control, blast music, walk around au natural and go and leave as I see fit. Living with the rents is limiting and the decrease of options really bogs me down that I can confidently predict I wont be able to study effectively.

Living on my own is extremely empowering as I can host study parties, regular parties etc. I think this kind of attitude will translate well into me having motivation to study hard as my life is full of control and options. I discussed all this with my parents and they understood completely. Even agreed to get all my groceries lol so I'm still saving money

 

[Dr. Vinnie Boombatz]

I'm starting at a DO school this fall and will be commuting from my mom's house about 40 minutes away. I think there's a lot that goes into this decision. The biggest is the school is in one of the most expensive areas in the country; you're not gonna find anything under 1000 per month. On top of this, you have to consider other costs, such as utilities and groceries. By my math, by staying at home I'll save between 60-80k over four years. Since I want to go into pediatrics, the idea of taking out as few loans as possible is appealing. Also this is only staying with one other person, so I don't think the house will be too chaotic.

 

[Konigstiger]

I'm staying at home and commuting. I lived apart from my family in college, and having to go out and get my own groceries, do all the household chores on my own, deal with loud, annoying neighbors/roommates, living in a crowded and relatively unsafe area, etc. were all distractions to me. And I didn't even have to pay for that apartment myself, so taking out loans to pay for it would have made it even worse.

IMO nothing beats the comfort of living at home and not being responsible for anything except for your studies. If you have problems with your family then you may think differently, but for me this was an easy decision.

 

[Lashler9054]

Hey guys. Kind of struggling on this decision.

If I live with a parent my commute to school as a first year med student will be about 35 minutes - 45 with heavy traffic. If I live in an apartment it will be 900-1000 dollars rent and I've already struggled finding one that will qualify me with my loans.

Do y'all feel as a first year, the money savings is worth it, or do you really think its worth paying the money to be within 10 minutes of school and live on your own?

Depends on your folks. With my parents, I NEVER would have lived with them during medical school

 

[DrPatriot]

Stayed home during the first two years of med school and it was amazing! I had a similar commute as well ~35 mins. The benefit of having my laundry done and having dinner or leftovers around definitely made up for any drive time I lost commuting. The savings on rent was just the cherry on top at that point. This only works as long as your family at home understand that med school and studying are your new job and they have to let you be as much as you need!

 

[ciestar]

Depends on your folks. With my parents, I NEVER would have lived with them during medical school

Same. Nothing but chaos. My first year especially.

 

[DrRedstone]

Because most things will be online, I'd say live with your parents. The money saved is worth considering. Just sit down with your parents and discuss the need for a lot of alone time to study. If they are amenable to it, try it out for a semester.